Intel CEO talks delayed factory, 'Broadwell' production start

In an earnings call, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich touched on the delay of the chip factory in Arizona, the start of Broadwell production in the first quarter, and the strength of the desktop, among other topics.

Intel is planning on Bay Trail on other tablet chips -- SoFIA and Broxton -- to drive tablet growth to 40 million units in 2014.
Intel

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich discussed the start of the next-gen Broadwell chip, the delay in the startup of its Chandler, Ariz., factory, and new tablet chips during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.

The chipmaker's net income rose 6.4 percent year over year to $2.6 billion, and revenue rose 2.6 percent to $13.8 billion. Here are some of the highlights from the conference call:

Fab 42 delay -- PC growth did not play out: "We have to start construction projects three years roughly in advance. They're very complex. If you go back three years ago, our view of the PC industry, PC growth was much more robust than what has played out," Krzanich said.

Next-gen Broadwell chip: The company expects Broadwell -- the successor to the current Haswell used in PCs -- production to start later in the first quarter. Broadwell's release: "still second half of 2014. Squarely on target."

New tablet chips: SoFIA and Broxton chips are coming that will lower the system-level (as opposed to chip-level) costs.

Tablet unit target of 40 million: Intel expects to see 40 million tablets ship with Intel processors in 2014. Krzanich said he's confident this will happen.

Desktop and gaming market strong: The company saw record shipments of Core i7 desktop chips, according to Krzanich.